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Sister Jean Schulties Sister Jean Schulties is one of 650 Medical Mission Sisters in 19 nations trying to be present to others in the spirit of Jesus the Healer. "My horizon has been widened and my vision expanded in ways I never could have imagined," says Sister Jean of her life as a missionary. A native of Newark, New Jersey, and a graduate of Battin High School in nearby Elizabeth, Sister Jean worked for 8 years as a stenographer and secretary at a U.S. Naval Supply Operational and Training Center. She heard about the Medical Mission Sisters through a Benedictine priest. Sister Jean served as secretary to our Foundress, Anna Dengel, for 12 years, including 5 years in Rome. "I developed a love for the people of Italy which continues to this day," she recalls. It was a very exciting time in the city, as the Second Vatican Council was taking place. Asked to serve as secretary to our first Sector Superior in Africa, Sister Jean moved to Uganda. "It was not long before I fell in love with the gracious Ugandan people," she recalls. During her time in Fort Portal, she also worked in the Admissions Office of Virika Hospital. She later returned to southwestern Uganda, where she lived and worked with the Bakiga people. In 1973, Sister Jean began 14 years of mission in Kenya. She was secretary to the Kikuyu Bishop of Eldoret Diocese, who was responsible for coordinating the pastoral activities of 31 parishes with more than 400 mission outstations. She worked with the staff at Nangina Hospital in Kenya, and accompanied the parish priest to safari Masses in isolated areas. As recorder of many of our international meetings, "I was able to participate for some time in the life of the Medical Mission Sisters in North and South India, Peru, England, Holland, Brazil, Venezuela and the Philippines," Sister Jean says. "A lived experience of interculturality in Africa and multicultural exchange in community have been very much a part of my life, and one of my treasures." For the past 8 years, Sister Jean has served in the Development Center of our North American headquarters in Philadelphia. She also companions women in recovery from addiction at Interim House. "My years of multicultural living and sharing outside the U.S.A. have shaped me, and motivate me to continue building community across barriers, giving and receiving in mutual friendship," she shares.
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